Chapter 2

"Initiate program Kisara."

My voice echoed off the walls of the underground laboratory, until the deep rumbles of my dragons replaced it. Three mighty beasts emerged before me, gracing me with their presence. As always, they came to my aid in times of need.

Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it surprised me to this day that someone with as much darkness as I could possess such magnificent creatures of light. I found my way to my dragons, unlikely as it was; undeserving as I was, my dragons considered me to be more than worthy. Opposites could attract, but I couldn't help but to think that fate brought us together because it had a thing for ironies.

Of course there was the other alternative that I was in denial and was secretly into the heart of the cards.

I was being sarcastic.

In spite of everything, my dragons served me well over the years, mostly as warriors, fighting at the battlefront; actually, "well" was the understatement of the century. There was a time when the only meaning of their existence in my deck was to give themselves up as sacrifice, even then they had complied. Their place in the spotlight had been stolen, but their loyalty to me was here to last.

The power of my dragons was exhilarating at first. It was I who fell out of love with it, quickly moving on to a stronger, better card without so much as a hesitation. Three Blue-Eyes combined were not enough to feed my greed. Obelisk was a God. What a God offered to me at the time was incomparable to any monster I had ever owned. Funny that it took losing the only God card I possessed for me to realize that although Obelisk was once my most powerful card, Blue-Eyes remained to be my eternal favorite.

My pride-and-joy, aside from Mokuba, the only thing left that was real and true.

There were always privileges that came with the package of being the center of my attention. The ones that didn't mean shit to me, I ignored and therefore spared. The ones that mattered however, I obsessively made sure that they met with an unfortunate end. Mokuba I had already broken, and the fourth Blue-Eyes I tore up to pieces. I tended to destroy the things that I liked. It had something to do with either my masochistic nature or Gozaburo's sadistic training.

I also believed that one of these days, cutting off the attachments that kept stringing me along would enable me to die in peace.

I didn't want to care, not really. I couldn't care for my own life, let alone anything or anyone in it.

I had always been intrigued by the idea of being struck by lightning. There was something immensely satisfying about that notion – to be rid of the burden of living as one surrendered oneself to the natural forces. According to the world record, some poor (or should I say luck-struck) idiot experienced seven lightning strikes in his lifetime and managed to survive, only to take his own life in the end, reportedly suffering a lover's broken heart. I was not Lady Luck's favorite son. Even if I went out of my way to attract authentic lightning with some high-tech device, I doubt that I'd get anything remotely interesting. So to make myself feel better, I improvised and settled for the next best thing.

It was the only way to express gratitude, but more importantly, my remorse. Years of servitude could not be compensated by a mere decision such as this, yet I could not come up with a more decent way to repay my debt to Blue-Eyes. Knowing that I went by the hands of my dragons – the embodiment of pride and dignity itself – was enough for me. I couldn't have wished for a more perfect death.

"Blue-Eyes, each take your turn to attack me directly with White Lightning!"

Three spheres of electrical energy were forming at the throats of my dragons. Their anguished cries struck chords of sweet melancholy, their roar of mourning wove into a song of remembrance to my ears. They released their attack on me unwillingly. I knew that they didn't want to do this, but that was irrelevant. As soon as this was all over, they would be freed from my control.

The aim of a Blue-Eyes could never be off, I was struck thrice consecutively. Drowning in a pool of blazing white, my throat and lungs burned like fire. It was as if I had undergone a transformation to become a dragon myself. I shrieked, partially in agony and partially out of curiosity. For some odd reason I imagined to see flames spitting out of my mouth as I chanced opening it, since that was certainly what it felt like, but I only coughed up blood instead.

"Blue-Eyes, go again, White Lightning attack!"

Three beams hit me squarely in the chest with a speed faster than light. I was knocked off my feet, the air out of me; my vomit stained the ground a dark crimson red. I gathered myself to stand, waiting patiently for the dizzy spell to pass. The sand in my hourglass was finally about to run out. I could feel the breath of Death fanning down my face. Savoring the moment with devilish glee, I activated the magic of polymerization.

"My tern dragon, awaken from thy slumber and hear my call, I summon thee for the last time. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, obey me and come forth!"

And there it stood, the weapon of my destruction, all strength and power and grace and boundless honor. The slender necks, the proud heads, the sharp claws, the mighty wings… I stared into the piercing blue eyes of my ultimate dragon and gasped.

I had never seen anything more beautiful.

"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon… Neutron Blast!"

Like the cleansing of the soul, like the ascension of the spirit.

Like an appeal for absolution, although damnation was much closer to home.

Like the scalding away of sins, like the ultimate attempt to heal.

The seventh blow had become my seventh seal.